13 Things That Don't Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time

by Michael Brooks

In science, being completely and utterly stuck can be a good thing; it often means a revolution is coming.

Radioactivity was an anomaly; it didn't make sense. The problem was eventually solved by the birth of quantum theory.

Quantum theory encapsulated the novel idea that some things in nature are entirely random, happen entirely without cause.

Put together, dark matter and dark energy make up 96 percent of the universe.

The future of science depends on identifying the things that don't make sense; our attempts to explain anomalies are exactly what drives science forward.

Dark matter is just a name, though. We don't have a clue what it

Dark energy is scientists' name for the ghostly essence that is making the fabric of the universe expand ever faster, creating ever more empty space between galaxies.

Schrödinger came to the conclusion that life is the one system that turns the natural progression of entropy, moving from order to disorder, on its head; living things are, effectively, machines that create order from disorder in their environment. This, to him, was the essence